


Solve For Ex

by nebroadwe



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Father Figures, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Physics, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2575262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebroadwe/pseuds/nebroadwe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an error, Walter thinks as he observes the Dineen-Baker family reunion, but not one he can correct.  (Seven perspectives on 1x7, "Father's Day," in drabble format.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Three Body Problem

_This is an error_ , Walter thinks as he observes the Dineen-Baker family reunion: Drew bent toward Ralph, animated and voluble; Paige hovering, her chair pushed close beside her son's. Ralph says little, gravely studying his father, but as the conversation protracts he slouches in his seat to lean his head against its crest rail. Walter doesn't need Toby to interpret that behavioral cue; his own body, propped on the car door, abruptly reminds him of every surface against which it braced while the world was spinning out of his control.

An error, but not one he can correct. Not now.


	2. Constant Function

Preoccupied, Cabe waves away the apologies of a harassed woman steering a cart piled high with canned goods between him and a Nabisco-themed endcap. He doesn't need a genius's IQ to deduce where he'll find Walter this afternoon, but he can hardly warn the boy off meddling in someone else's personal business now. _Hello, there, kettle; you're looking very black today_. He'll just have to trust that Paige can stand her ground for her son's sake, and that Walter learned the right lessons from Cabe's mistakes.

_Trust. Yeah._

He grabs a package of Peek Freans and heads for the self-checkout.


	3. Probability Theory

Toby sees exactly why Paige and Drew ended up together: she's a caretaker (expresses affection with food) and he's hapless (couldn't even break out of double-A ball, the putz). Five'll get you two they met at a diner: she served him coffee and sympathy after a crushing defeat, he wrote his phone number on the check, and she was hooked. If Ralph hadn't needed her more, she'd still be playing tail to Drew's kite. Ergo, the best way to keep them disentangled is to make Drew a success ... somehow.

Or set him up with another blonde from Tahoe. Whatever works.


	4. Elastic Collisions

Unlike Toby, Happy knows when to shut up. Ralph's a great kid, but how Paige raises him is her business. She'll never convince the guys to butt out, but Happy gives her props for trying. That old saying about inches and miles? Substitute centimeters and light years and you've got Scorpion's XY contingent.

When Paige assumes Happy's Team Buttinsky, too, she's vaguely relieved: avoiding interaction with normal (spiteful, judgy) girls is a well-honed reflex. But when Paige doesn't understand what Ralph's saying about his dad and there's nobody else to translate? _Don't make me regret this._

(And don't tell Toby.)

 


	5. Second Law of Motion

Sylvester washes his sweaty hands, then shakes them dry, ignoring the dishrag (breeding ground for coliform bacteria) beside the sink. He snags a peach from the crisper and tumbles it into the three-quarters-full wire basket on the counter, flinching as it bounces off an apple before landing in the protective embrace of a pair of bananas. _My son!_ Paige insists, sharp and defensive against the claim of Ralph's ... co-progenitor. A convicted batterer. Who throws a five-ounce projectile with sufficient force ( _F=m(Δv/t)_ ) to maim or even kill —

 _Go!_ Toby mouths, gesturing impatiently.

Clutching the basket, Sylvester marches reluctantly across the garage.


	6. Uncertainty Principle

Paige rolls onto her back, wincing as the sofa-bed's mattress squeaks and a spring briefly digs into her hip. First-last-and-security on a decent two-bedroom apartment (with a real bed!) is only a few paychecks away, but that thought doesn't cheer her tonight. She's still not sure whether letting Drew back into Ralph's life, and hers, is a good idea. _It carries risk,_ Walter said, and he's not wrong. _You do it!_ Happy insisted, and she knows what that means.

But Ralph isn't Walter or Happy or anyone but himself, and Paige is still waiting for him to have his say.


End file.
